Being neighbourly ...

One of our neighbours runs a B&B, mostly for Swedish clients (being Swedish themselves!). Last week they had over 20 enduro motorbike riders from Sweden staying. Needing some space for secure parking, as the vans contained a lot of expensive equipment, we helped out with parking in our garage. As well as our mini-bus, we managed to fit in two more large vans - and still had room to spare.

New Dresser

On a recent trip to Pezenas, while looking for some light fittings to go in the hallway, we instead found a great dresser for the lounge. It fits perfectly, and at last have been able to sort out some of the still-packed things (from 2 years ago) and re-discover dishes, cutlery, glasses etc. All of which are now in the dresser and can start to be used again. Henry took time to check it out properly before we put things into it.

However, we didn't find any light fittings so the search continues.

The new-look front gate

We still have work to do on the railings but we are gradually getting there. It's been a bit too cold and windy the past week to do any more. We are very pleased with the final look - but can't take any credit for it as Steve, our great handyman, did all the hard work on the front gate.

Bathroom demolition progress

Merv has had a smashing time in the bathroom. Found what we thought was a tiled concreted surround of the bath, was in fact made from bakelite tiles. They were easily smashed to bits, revealing the bath in all its glory. Getting rid of the bath surround has opened up the space in the bathroom. Next job is to find someone nearby restore to bath surface. And a trip to the tip.

Fête de Mimosa

Today is the annual Fête de Mimosa in the lovely village of Roquebrun, near where we live. As with last weekend's Fête de Cochon, it's not the best time of year for a fête, coinciding with some of the coldest weather of the year. However, it is when the mimosa's flower and as Roquebrun has a micro-climate, flowering is earlier here than other places. It was a (relatively) mild day so good crowds came to the market in the morning. Later in the day, naturally after a break for lunch, there is a parade through the village, followed by music etc into the evening.

Of course there is always a band to keep spirits up on a cold winter's day:

The pink tiles must go!

The pink bathroom tiles have finally got to us and have to go. As one of our projects for this year is to renovate the main bathroom, we've started to remove the wall tiles ahead of the main work being done. Unfortunately, most of them have been stuck with floor-tile cement, which is harder than wall-tile cement, making them very, very difficult to remove. Here's the bathroom in it's original state:

And this is what it looks like now as a work-in-progress:

Still quite a way to go to a lovely bathroom!

Fête de Cochon

This traditional festival is held the first weekend every February. Amongst other things which celebrate le cochon (pig), mainly to do with food, one of our nearby villages has piglet racing. Naturally we needed to see this, so went along to Cessenon to see the pig 'racing' on what must be the shortest course ever seen. The band played gamely in the bitter cold but after the races, most people headed straight to the warmth of the bar as quickly as possible.